As a teacher in Mexico, teaching content and English to native Spanish speakers who lived in their own Spanish speaking country, I often wondered how important it really was for my students to speak English ‘correctly’ – in other words, attain standard cognitive academic language proficiency. For those students who were headed to universities in the United States or other foreign countries, there was no denying that this was important. After all, all U.S. universities require their students to write in standard, academic, structurally and grammatically correct English. Most schools have writing centers where students who are not familiar with such basic writing skills as the ‘five-paragraph-essay’ and standard writing conventions can go for help. The greater majority of the students at the institution where I worked would need those skills, but what about those that were not headed for foreign lands? What about those that would go to university in Mexico and join the workforce – well before they had finished their studies? What they needed most of all was to speak fluent English as soon as possible – their job and promotion possibilities often depended on it. But even in their case, most people would agree that educational success and increased social and career options often depend on competence in standard English. Once they joined the workforce, they would have to write reports, be able to communicate with their boss, people at the home office and other colleagues abroad, and attend meetings – all in English.
In both these cases, though, this language learning and development was easier said than done. Learning the English language in a non-English speaking country is much harder and more time consuming than learning it in an English-speaking country. Once the students have mastered the very basics – verb conjugation and tenses, pronouns, adjectives, noun clauses, etc., – they come up against aspects of culture which are fundamental but can be rather subtle. Though often confounding, these aspects are important to grasp if they want to function effectively in the cultural context, especially that of the workplace. When one learns a new language, one must learn a new culture and this is a complex process.
Many of my high school students spoke fluent English but their use of the language could also be considered non-standard. They had picked up their language skills from television and movies, or they had learned it from family members in the United States or after having attended several years of school abroad. Their language was full of slang and the latest youth vocabulary and expressions, and they cursed as a matter of course – without realizing what they were actually saying. These students often did not know what was appropriate in different situations. So what, if anything, should we do about this as teachers?
I believe that the answer to this is that we must make our students aware of different registers and that there is a time and a place for everything. It is very important that we teach our students to value, appreciate and learn other accents, be aware of other varieties or registers of the languages they study, and learn about cultural differences in the way people say and do things in order to successfully communicate and empathize with many people of diverse backgrounds. Today’s English language is spoken as a first language in many countries of the world, and all of them may have developed one or more ‘national standards’ of pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary. Moreover, English has become the most widely used second language and is therefore also subject to alteration by non-native speakers.
It is a fact that in the United States many students who speak nonstandard varieties of English fail to acquire standard English and therefore fall behind at school. On the other hand, many students who do acquire standard English reject their home language and their cultural heritage. This only highlights the fact that standard English should be taught from a cultural perspective and focus on both communication and language structure. It is very important for students to learn about situational language requirements while at the same time preserving their ‘indigenous’ linguistic system.
There are many things that can be done to help students cope with language issues. First of all, we must help them develop a positive attitude towards their first language and the language varieties in their immediate environment. They should also be made aware of the fact that when an idea is translated into another language or dialect, it may have a different meaning or intention. This awareness will help the students to recognize particular situational communication requirements and determine what is appropriate in different situations. Students will soon see for themselves that no dialect is better than another and that standards can vary widely. On the other hand, they will also understand that misunderstandings among people with different dialects or languages are common and can unwittingly cause negative judgments and prejudice.
The more we know about the languages, dialects, home cultures, and traditions of our students, the more we are able to enter their world and adjust our teaching to meet their needs. Dialects are present in everyone’s speech, no matter where one is located or which cultural group one belongs to. Teachers need to be knowledgeable in the area of language arts in order to better help their students and if they have students from many different linguistic, cultural or social backgrounds, they need to understand how to design the classroom language environment so as to optimize language and literacy learning and to avoid linguistic obstacles to content area learning. Teachers need to know how language figures in academic learning and to recognize that all students need instructional support to acquire the forms and structures associated with it. The most effective way to help learners is often explicit teaching of language structures and uses. No matter what subject we are teaching, a focus on language is very important.
Teachers should, of course, emphasize Standard English if they want to prepare their students for university in the United States or other countries abroad. But there is nothing wrong with including reference to different dialects and vernaculars that the students may be exposed to in their lives and teaching them that all cultures, languages and varieties of those languages are valuable and worthy of respect. The more we know about language and culture, the better prepared we will be to be effective communicators and better citizens of the world.
At the same time, we must not lose sight of the fact that it has become increasingly important for us to find different means to teach students about ways of thinking other than those of their own community. Our schools operate learning platforms which, in effect, are giant online libraries. They have opened the world to more and more people and it is therefore no longer acceptable, in this world of electronic proximity, to ignore the views of other cultures. It is language which bridges cultural differences because language is the heart and soul of a culture. It is an undeniable fact that people who speak more than one language will have more career opportunities, and it is our duty to provide our students with these opportunities. The need for speakers of other languages is increasing by leaps and bounds. But let us not forget that knowing how to conjugate verbs is not as important as teaching students to respect, appreciate, and understand individual differences.
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